The Line Between
by Scribbles-by-Kate
Summary: In the aftermath of Hades' manipulation, Belle tries to come to terms with her new understanding of the world, and Rumple is there to help her through it. RumBelle story, post "Her Handsome Hero".
1. Chapter 1

_Once Upon a Time_ is the property of Adam Horowitz, Eddy Kitsis, and ABC. My babies were so sad at the end of the episode that I had to fix it.

 **The Line Between**

An eerie silence had settled around them as they stood on the docks. Hades was gone, his twisted manipulation achieved with the destruction of their hope. Neither of them spoke. They just held each other, quiet and despairing.

Belle's mind was anything but quiet, though. It kept replaying what she'd done, how she'd reacted out of fear. She could not let Gaston hurt Rumple, but to do what she'd done to him…

Hades had wanted her to do this, wanted her to damn Gaston to eternal torment, and she'd done it. What _was_ she?

Feeling bile rise up her throat, she twisted quickly away from Rumple and retched, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the dock.

'Belle, oh, Belle,' Rumple soothed, his hand skimming lightly over her back.

She began to shake uncontrollably. He gathered her into his arms, twirled his hand, and took them back to the shop without another word.

'Sit here, sweetheart,' he entreated, easing her down onto the cot. She sat for him, shivering like mad. He shrugged out of his coat and draped it around her. She tugged it around her with shaking hands, burying her face in it, as if it soothed her to be surrounded by his scent. She didn't speak and she didn't react when he sat next to her, but she did lean into him when he put his hand on her back. She stared ahead, seeing nothing, her breathing jerky as she shook.

He was trying to keep himself from shaking too. He had rarely been this angry. He would make Hades pay for this. He'd destroyed Belle's hope: he'd shattered her idealism and forced her into a cruel new understanding of the world. For that, god or no god, Rumplestiltskin would make him suffer. Whatever it took, he would destroy Hades.

As painful as this was for her, it was equally so for him. He'd never wanted this for her, never wanted her to know darkness. Let it take him by all means, but not her, not his brave, bright, beautiful Belle. He so wished he could go back a few minutes and toss that oaf in the river before she arrived. She'd be angry with him, but at least she wouldn't be feeling this way now. Better her be angry with him than with herself.

Tears dripped down his cheeks for the innocence she'd lost today, but he knew he needed to pull it together. She needed him to be strong now and help her through this, show her that it didn't change anything about who she was or how he felt about her. It was an act of love, not darkness: he would help her see that.

He reached up and gently caressed her cold cheek with the backs of his fingers.

Belle's eyes flicked to his, but didn't linger. She looked away, ashamed, feeling so… _wrong_.

He only saw the look in her eyes for a second, but it was all he needed to know what she was thinking. She hated herself. He'd been there and he would not let Belle torture herself, not over that bastard.

'Belle, darling, look at me, please,' he begged.

'I can't,' she whispered, voice quivering.

'Please, Belle.'

'I'm a monster,' she whispered, disgusted.

'You're _not_ a monster,' he told her definitively, the same way she had told him once, so very long ago. 'Look at me, Belle,' he requested, swiftly moving and kneeling before her like a supplicant now. 'Look at me, please.'

She did: she managed to focus eyes full of shame and sadness and fear and doubt on his, and his heart broke for her.

'Oh, my beautiful Belle,' he breathed.

Belle sobbed, reaching for him. He took her into his arms at once, moving to sit on the cot again, pulling her into his lap and holding her as she turned her face into his neck and cried.

All he could do was hold her and soothe her, and try his best not to let her feel any of the anger he felt towards Hades. Belle needed him now: he would deal with Hades later.

'I wanted so badly to help, to do the right thing,' she whimpered.

'I know, Belle.'

'I'm not a hero,' she whispered, sadness and realisation dripping from the words.

'You're _my_ hero,' he told her: 'you've always been my hero.' He squeezed her a little as she clung to him.

'My mother would be so ashamed,' she sobbed, fresh tears trickling down her cheeks to soak his jacket.

'No she wouldn't, Belle: she'd be proud that you protected what you love, just like she did. I wish I'd known her, you know: I wish I could thank her for raising such a strong, compassionate, forgiving daughter. It takes an extraordinary amount of goodness to raise someone who's so concerned with what's right, who's so desperate to save everyone.'

'But I _didn't_ save everyone,' she protested.

'You did everything you could: you gave Gaston every chance.'

'And in the end I gave in to darkness.'

'You gave in to love, Belle. _He_ gave in to darkness by scorning your attempt to save him. He was the one who couldn't let his thirst for revenge go. You did what you had to do.'

'I couldn't let him hurt you,' she whispered, clinging tighter to him. 'I couldn't lose you, not again. I'd…I'd do it over again, if it came to it. Does that make me a terrible person?' she asked, afraid it did, afraid voicing this would make him hate her.

'It makes you human, Belle, and I love you for it.' He brushed his lips against her forehead. 'I promise you I will never stop loving you, no matter what.'

She looked searchingly at him, and then, seeming satisfied, she nodded and hugged him.

'I love you too, Rumple. Can you ever forgive me?'

'For what, Belle?'

'For being so uncompromising, for taking the dagger.'

'You took the dagger because I tricked you into telling me the deal you made with Hades and then disappeared before you could argue with me. That wasn't fair to you. Why don't we call it even, eh?'

After a moment, she nodded. 'I'm sorry, though.'

'I know, and it's ok, Belle. As for you being uncompromising, I like that: I _need_ that.'

'You do?' she asked, frowning.

He nodded. 'You make me stronger. You've always seen the good in me and helped me to see it in myself. I told you once that you make me wanna be the best version of myself, and that's still true. I can be everything I've always wanted to be, and that's because of your love, Belle. Don't ever stop pushing me to be my best self, because I love you for doing that.'

She smiled weakly, but then looked troubled again. 'I could have been nicer about it, though,' she said, 'not self righteous. I was unkind to you.'

'You were stressed,' he countered. 'You landed here unexpectedly, found out a) that you're pregnant, b) that, because of a deal I made before you were even born, our baby is owed as payment, and, c) that I'm the Dark One again and that I didn't tell you straight away. Anyone would be stressed under those conditions. Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't scream at me that you never wanted to see me again.'

'I'm tired of fighting how I feel about you,' she admitted. 'I tried and I made myself miserable, and I hurt you when I walked away from you at the well: I'm sorry.' She looked plaintively at him and he smiled.

'You needed more time,' he said, knowing it was true. 'I should have understood that you needed more than a day to see I could really be better. I hurt you far too much for you to be able to trust me easily again.'

'I _was_ hurt,' she agreed, 'but I don't wanna dwell on that any more. I choose to trust you not to hurt me again, Rumple.'

He smiled, knowing how much courage it took for her to say that. 'Thank you. That means more to me than I can say, Belle, and I promise you that I will keep that vow I made to you, to love you with honesty and courage. I can do that and be the Dark One as well.'

She knew he believed that, but she'd seen his heart, all shrivelled and almost black: she didn't want to see that happen to him again.

'I just…I don't wanna lose you to the Darkness again, Rumple,' she said, panicked. 'You nearly died: I couldn't bear it if your heart went black again.'

He cupped her cheek gently. 'That's why you were so adamant about no dark magic,' he realised. 'Oh, Belle.' He smiled. 'I should have known you had my best interests at heart.'

'I can't watch you go through that again,' she whispered, fear in her eyes.

'It's different now, Belle,' he told her. 'I'm stronger: you made me stronger. When I was without power, I learned the kind of man I can really be, and you did that. You helped me become the hero I always wanted to be but never believed I could. You saw that in me, Belle, and I was able to see it in myself: that's why I was able to pull the sword from the stone. I learned to believe in myself the way you believe in me. You always see the potential in me,' he said, and smiled.

'But the power had been part of me for hundreds of years. I missed not having it, I missed not being able to protect the ones I love with a snap of my fingers. When life has beaten you down as much as it did me, you long to find a way to be able to stand again, and I did, Belle: the power allowed me to do that, to be a man. Without it, I didn't feel complete. I need it to be who I am, who I want to be. Can you understand that?'

'I… I think I can,' she said softly, after a moment. 'Growing up, I knew I would never get the opportunity to be a great leader or to earn the respect that men could. I knew I was just supposed to be a pretty trophy.' She sent a flicker of a smile to him as he tensed in irritation. 'Still, I read and studied, hoping that one day I could prove myself and earn the respect of my father and his men. For me, knowledge was power that I acquired in hopes that I could earn respect and acknowledgement as more than a pretty bauble.'

'And so you have,' he whispered, looking at her with such awe and respect it made her eyes water.

She smiled, warmer this time, and nodded. She knew _he_ respected her, and that was enough.

'So I understand how you feel,' she said quietly. 'I understand that power is as much a part of you as books and knowledge are part of me, and I won't ask you to give up part of yourself, not for me, because I know you would never ask me to give up part of myself for you.'

He stared at her, completely awed by her capacity for understanding and acceptance.

Suddenly needing to desperately, he kissed her, catching her by surprise this time. She wrapped her arms around him, gasping when he pulled away.

'You are the most wonderful woman I have ever known,' he told her.

She smiled, and then it turned sad. 'I don't feel so wonderful right now,' she said tearfully, remembering Gaston.

'Oh, Belle, I'm so sorry.' He pulled her closer again, stroking her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder.

'Gaston was a beast, but he didn't deserve that fate: no one does.'

'No,' he agreed.

'You agree with me?' she asked, surprised, 'but you hated Gaston.'

'I did, but… Belle, there's something I have to tell you, something I did before you arrived down here, something I'm not proud of.'

'What was it?' she asked.

'I pushed Milah into the river,' he said, voice full of regret.

'Your first wife?'

'Yes.' She could see that he hadn't enjoyed it. There was regret and shame in his eyes.

'What happened?' she asked gently. If he felt anything like she did right now, she wanted to comfort him, because this wasn't a nice feeling.

'It was the day I discovered you were pregnant,' he said. 'I wanted so much to get back to you and Emma and the others were stalling too much, so I told Emma I could get us into Hades' lair. To do that, we needed the help of a dead person. I approached Milah. She came with us and we found a boat that we could use to get us all home after we'd gotten Hook. Emma went to get Hook and Hades arrived. He froze Milah and offered me a deal: he'd send me home to you if I burned the boat and got rid of Milah.'

'And you did it to come home to me, to us.' There was no judgement in her voice, no anger. How could she judge him after today? She'd just wanted to save Rumple: he'd just wanted to get home to her and their baby. With her new understanding of how harsh choices could be, she could never judge him for this.

He nodded. 'Just like you, I wish I could undo it. I wish I could go back and find another way, but Hades would have killed everyone if I didn't do it. He backed me into a corner as surely as he did you today. He knows how to push people's buttons, Belle.'

She nodded. 'Why didn't he let you come home?'

'Because he found out about the baby. I killed the man I made the deal with when I became the Dark One and I thought that meant it was nullified, but then I came here and found that Hades had bought the contract from the healer, which means…'

'We owe our baby to Hades,' she finished. He nodded. 'But he tricked you: he broke your deal! How are we to fight someone who doesn't play fair?'

'By beating him at his own game,' he told her.

'You have a plan already, don't you?' she asked, and he smiled at the spark of hope in her eyes. There was the Belle he knew and loved.

'Yes,' he agreed: 'it just came to me.'

'Will you tell me?' she asked, not sure he would.

He nodded. 'No more secrets, Belle: I promise. Besides, I need your advice.'

'You do?'

He smiled and placed a tentative hand against her stomach. She brought both of her hands down immediately to hold his hand there.

He smiled again. 'We created this life together,' he murmured: 'our love created it, and our love will protect it, so, yes, I will share every thought and every plan with you from now on. We'll decide on everything together. We'll fight and be stubborn and compromise, because that's what love is. It's taken me a long time to understand it, Belle, but I know what love is now. Love is forgiveness and acceptance and understanding: love is _you_ , and I won't lose sight of that again. Oh, don't cry, sweetheart,' he pleaded, bringing his hand up to brush away her tears.

'I can't help it,' she sobbed, tears spilling down her cheeks. She caught his hand and pressed it to her cheek. 'When I remember that I thought you loved power more than me, I…' And she rolled her eyes at herself.

'I'm sorry I made you feel that way,' he said regretfully, stroking her cheek with his thumb. Then he moved his hand away from her cheek and reached into his jacket, pulling out the dagger.

'This is a just means to an end, Belle,' he said, showing it to her. 'This dagger and the power I wield because of it will always and forever work in the service of the ones I love most in all the realms: you and our child. Nothing else matters to me: no one else matters to me. I will do everything in my power to protect you both and keep you from harm. That's the only reason I love this dagger: because of what it allows me to do for the ones I truly love.'

Belle nodded, accepting his words. 'And I - _we_ \- love you for that.' And she kissed him gently, smiling as his eyes watered at the mention of their child loving him too.

They smiled at each other then, hope reignited, and Belle stared at him, a new certainty coming to her.

'You're different,' she said softly, awed. 'I can see it in your eyes: there's something different about you this time. The Darkness, it's there, but it seems weaker now.'

'It doesn't own me the way it used to,' he explained. 'I told you: you make me stronger, and I acquired the power differently this time as well: I didn't kill for it, and that makes a difference.'

'Killing automatically binds your soul to the Darkness,' she reasoned.

'Yes,' he agreed.

'So, how _did_ you get it back?'

'Emma came to me with a plan to sacrifice herself to destroy the Darkness. She was going to gather all the Darkness into Excalibur and then get Regina to kill her. I used some magic to turn the sword from a weapon into a conduit to channel the Darkness into me. I didn't know that Hook would die: that wasn't part of the plan.'

'He was wounded by Excalibur in Camelot,' Belle told him: 'that's why Emma turned him into a Dark One. Merlin said that a wound from the sword couldn't be healed: Emma was trying to save him.'

'Well, that turned out well,' he grumbled. 'Instead of one Dark One wreaking havoc, we had two, one of whom had been mired in darkness for hundreds of years. Nice going, Emma.' His voice dripped with sarcasm.

'Well, you do crazy things for love,' Belle said understandingly.

'Yes,'' he agreed, softening a little.

'So, you turning the sword into a conduit wouldn't have killed Emma,' she surmised: 'what you did saved her life.' She looked at him, awed. 'You sacrificed yourself to the Darkness to save her: you're a true hero, Rumple!'

'I'm not sure my intentions were quite that noble, Belle. My first thought was to get the power back. I didn't believe her plan would work the way she intended, though. Magic can't be destroyed: it can only change form, so the Darkness would have to go somewhere once it had been cut from her.'

'Back into the air, like last time,' Belle said.

'Possibly, or back to the vault, where it would wait for some desperate soul to come and claim it.'

'So, what you did was the safe option,' she said. 'Even if you wanted the power back as well, you did save Emma's life, and after seeing what she and Hook did with the power of the Dark One in less than six weeks, it's probably in the safest hands it could be in now. You never created a second Dark One or opened a portal to the Underworld to free all the previous Dark Ones. How did you manage not to give in to the Darkness completely for all that time?'

'I channeled it into finding Bae at first,' he said, 'and then I met you. Love is the best defence against the Darkness. You helped me in so many ways.'

'Did I?' she asked uncertainly. 'Did I really help you, Rumple? I made you leave. How was that helping you?'

'You woke me up,' he told her. 'I was giving in to the Darkness and you made me see that I needed to deal with it differently.'

'That's why you got the Author to write new stories.'

'Yes, but even then I lied and tricked, and I'm sorry for that, Belle.'

She nodded. 'I know that you were losing the last flicker of love in your heart: I know that must have affected you.'

'It did, but, thanks to you, I'm still here.'

She smiled. 'And now you're a hero who can use his power for good. That's why you came here, isn't it: to save Hook, even though you and he were enemies?'

'Well, I may have felt a little guilt, but, again, I wouldn't say my intentions were quite so noble. I mainly came here because Emma threatened to tell you about me being the Dark One again.'

Belle tensed. ' _What_?'

'I was afraid to tell you,' he admitted. 'I wanted to, but Emma made it sound like you'd—'

'No, hang on: she _blackmailed_ you into coming here, into leaving me and our baby?'

He realised in surprise that she wasn't angry at him, but at Emma.

'Well, to be fair to her, she didn't know about the baby.'

'That doesn't matter! How dare she hold that over you? I thought she was supposed to be a good person: she's the Saviour!'

'Turns out the Saviour is not above blackmail.'

'Oh, I should…' Suddenly her anger evaporated and she soughed against him in despair. 'Who am I to talk, after what I did today? Heroes and villains…there's no such thing, really, is there?' She sighed. 'The world isn't as black and white as I wanted it to be: right and wrong is a matter of perspective, like you said.'

'You always look for the good in people,' he reminded her.

'But sometimes it's really not there, is it?' she asked, 'or, sometimes, the right thing is subjective. What I consider the right thing isn't necessarily what someone else considers the right thing.' She was thinking of the day she left the others when they wouldn't help her get Rumple back.

'I'm angry with them, you know,' she said quietly, admitting it for the first time.

'With Emma and her family?' She nodded. 'Why?'

'I went to Camelot to help Emma. I was going to ask Merlin for help saving you too, but I also wanted to help Emma. They barely acknowledged me. Then, the day you came to the library, after you got away from Merida, they were all talking about contacting Merlin. I asked why we were bothering with Merlin when you could help us. They wouldn't ask for your help and they wouldn't help me rescue you because they blamed you for Emma being the Dark One. They said if you hadn't brought the Darkness back, that wouldn't have happened. They refused to accept that what happened was as much Emma's fault as yours; she was seduced by the Darkness too. I'm really angry with them for just dismissing your safety out of hand because it wasn't convenient to what they wanted. Well, not with Henry or Robin, but the others. They only care about what's best for them and the people they care about. They're supposed to be leaders: they're supposed to care about everyone, not just their family. I gave them too much credit for too long. I didn't wanna see how selfish they really are. I… I don't trust them to help us save our baby.'

'I hadn't planned on asking them anyway,' he told her. 'Knowing you as I do, Belle, I've always felt you had more heroism in your little finger than all of them put together. You know what real heroism is: compassion, forgiveness.'

She stared at him. 'You…you read my book!'

'Of course I read your book,' he told her. 'I've read every book you love.' He smiled as her lips trembled.

She blinked. 'I can still be compassionate and forgiving,' she said, 'but maybe I need to stop giving people so many chances when they don't respect me or show me that they deserve them.'

He nodded. 'I think that's a good lesson to take away from all this.'

She nodded. 'And I've realised the hard way that things aren't simple black and white: they're complicated, and it's alright to act with the interests of the people you love in mind. You walk the line between good and evil, light and dark, the best you can, and all you can do is work and hope to stay in the light more often than not.'

'Yes,' he agreed, smiling at her. She did have a wonderful way of clarifying things.

'Ok,' she said, 'tell me your plan for saving our baby.'

'Well, as I said, we beat Hades at his own game,' he said, switching tack with her. 'You're right: he doesn't play fair, and there's only one way to cheat a cheater: find an even bigger cheat.'

'Who do you mean?'

'How do you feel about being properly introduced to my father?'

 **So…shall I leave it there or do you want to see Belle meet Pan…and maybe have some RumBelle/Charmings interaction too? :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Belle and Rumple seek help in their fight against Hades and square off against the Charmings. This got a bit dark towards the end regarding Emma. Safe to say it's pretty anti-Emma, anti-Hook, and anti-Charmings.

 **The Line Between - continued**

'Are you sure you want me to do this?' he asked, holding the pipes in his hand.

'Yes,' she said, gathering her courage.

Rumplestiltskin nodded and blew into the pipes. He didn't hear the note. Once, he would have, but he didn't feel lost or unloved any more.

'Did it work?' Belle asked: 'I didn't hear anything.'

'You can only hear Peter Pan's pipes if you feel lost and unloved,' he said: 'that you didn't hear that suggests you feel neither.'

'I don't,' she agreed. 'Did you hear it?'

He shook his head. She smiled.

'How-how will we know if he heard it?'

'Oh, he'll let us know. You don't have to worry, Belle: I won't let him hurt you.'

'I know, I just…last time I saw him was when you died, and he was going to kill me and Neal.'

He could see she was nervous about doing this and he came and put his arms around her. She settled into his embrace at once.

'Belle, if you don't wanna do this—'

'No, I do: I'm just wary of him. I trust you, Rumple: if you think this'll work, then we try it.'

He nodded. 'I love you.'

'I love you too,' she returned, and kissed him.

'Hope I'm not interrupting.'

Belle gasped and Rumplestiltskin pushed her behind him, protecting her with his body.

'Hello, son,' Peter Pan greeted. 'Well, isn't this a bittersweet family reunion? My condolences, Rumple.'

'Belle isn't dead,' Rumplestiltskin returned: 'she's just visiting.'

'Ah, well, glad to hear it.'

'Are you? If I recall, you wanted to kill her the last time you saw her,' Rumplestiltskin snapped.

'Rumple,' Belle soothed, feeling how on edge he was.

He relaxed and wrapped an arm around her, bringing her in to his side.

'Belle, I'm sure you remember my father, Peter Pan.'

'I remember,' Belle said quietly.

'And, Father, I believe you remember my wife.'

'Indeed I do,' Peter Pan agreed. 'Got yourself a beautiful woman there, son.'

'Don't start,' Rumple growled.

'I'm just being polite,' Pan returned, keeping his expression neutral. 'So, you called?'

'I did. We need your help.'

'I see.' Pan looked from his son to the woman who was his daughter-in-law. 'What is it you need?'

'Hades has something that belongs to us that he's trying to cheat us out of: we need your help to get it from him. I figured the only way to cheat a cheater is to enlist the aid of an even bigger cheat.'

'And you thought of me: I'm touched.'

'Will you help us?'

'Depends on what you're willing to give me in return,' Pan returned, studying his son.

'What do you want?' Belle asked warily.

'He wants to come back,' Rumplestiltskin told her: 'he wants to take the place of one of the Charmings.'

Belle's eyes widened. 'That's…we can't possibly do that!'

'I agree,' Rumple said soothingly: 'I already told him as much.'

'There must be something else we can give you,' Belle pleaded. 'We can't and won't trade another soul for yours.'

'Quite the righteous heroine, aren't you?' Pan mused. 'You care that much about these Charmings?'

'I care about Rumple's soul and mine,' Belle countered. 'We won't darken them by helping you come back to wreak havoc again. You would have killed me, Neal, Henry, and cursed everyone in Storybrooke: is it really so surprising to you that we won't help you begin another reign of terror?'

Pan studied her. 'Well, you've got fire,' he said, impressed. 'I can see why you like her so much, Rumple. I always did like a woman with fire myself.'

'Enough!' Rumple snapped. 'If you're not going to help us, leave, and we'll find another way.'

'I didn't say I wasn't going to help you.'

'Well, we're not gonna help you get what you want, so we're at an impasse, aren't we?' Rumple growled.

Peter Pan looked at his son and Belle looked at him, and she thought that Rumple might be wrong about what he wanted.

'You can go,' Rumplestiltskin said to his father, and Belle heard the note of disappointment in his voice.

'No, wait,' Belle said, and stepped away from Rumple towards her father-in-law.

'Belle,' Rumple warned.

'It's ok, Rumple,' she soothed. She looked at Pan. 'You knew Rumple wouldn't agree to help you come back: you had that discussion already, so what is it you want from him, really?'

Pan tried to keep his expression a mask of indifference, but Belle saw the flicker of feeling in his eyes, the regret, and she saw the way his gaze flicked to Rumple, though he tried not to let her see it.

'You want what all the souls here want,' Belle realised: 'you wanna take care of your unfinished business.'

'And what unfinished business could I possibly have?' Pan asked, defensive.

'You're not that unlike him, you know, in the way you try to conceal what you're feeling,' Belle said softly. 'Rumple put on an act with me for months, but I saw through him, and I see through you now. You regret not being a father to your son, but, don't you see? This is an opportunity for you to do that. You can deal with your unfinished business and move on: all you have to do is help us, help _him_.'

Pan blinked. 'Quite, ah, perceptive, isn't she?' he asked his son.

'Yes,' Rumple agreed: 'always has been.' He put his arm around Belle and she leaned into him again. 'Did you mean what you said about being a family, truly?'

'Yes,' Pan returned. 'No tricks, Rumple, no games. You _are_ my unfinished business, and, as much as I would love to come back, what I really want is peace: I want to do right by you, for once. I know it's too late to earn your love or forgiveness, but—'

'You always had my love,' Rumple interjected: 'I just never had yours,' he finished sadly.

Pan stared at him. 'You still love me, after everything I put you through, everything I did?'

'Yes.'

Pan blinked and looked away.

Rumplestiltskin swallowed hard. He'd never seen that look on his father's face before. He'd always seen it twisted with malice: he'd never seen him show remorse or any kind of warmer emotion towards him, until now.

'Papa…'

Pan smiled, not a smile of malevolent glee now, but a smile of warmth, of gratitude, and there were tears in his eyes.

'It's good to hear you call me that again, laddie,' he said, choking up.

Belle stepped to the side as Rumplestiltskin and his father reached for each other and embraced. She smiled as the coldness and mistrust gave way to acceptance and warmth. Perhaps, after all, they _could_ save a soul today.

'So, tell me everything,' Pan entreated: 'what is it exactly you need my help with?'

Rumplestiltskin looked at Belle and she nodded.

'Several years before I became the Dark One, Bae got sick,' Rumple began. 'Milah and I went to a healer, but the cure was a hundred gold pieces. Milah got a knife and sent me to steal the cure and kill the healer, but I couldn't do it. He and I made a deal instead: my second-born child for the cure for Bae. I took it, never intending to have another child. Many years after I became the Dark One, a second child seemed a possibility, so I found the healer and crushed his heart.'

'Wait, who were you planning to have a child with?' Belle asked sharply, frowning at him. She hadn't known about this.

'Regina's mother, Cora,' he told her. 'We had a brief affair many years before I met you. In the end, she chose power over me, even ripped out her own heart rather than be with me. It was nothing compared to us.' He gestured between them, hoping she wouldn't be angry.

Belle nodded after a moment, accepting his explanation. 'Ok: go on,' she invited, appeased.

'Well, the way things worked out, I didn't have a child with Cora, obviously. Still, the healer was dead and I thought that was the end of it, that death nullified the deal, but now that I'm here, the deal is back in play, and, what's worse, the healer has signed the contract over to Hades. We need your help to get the contract from him.'

Pan frowned. 'I'm not sure I'm following: you want to retrieve a contract for a non-existent child?'

'It's not non-existent,' Belle said quietly.

'Belle's pregnant, Papa,' Rumple said. 'We need your help to save our baby.'

Pan looked between his son and his daughter-in-law. 'I told you she looked fertile.'

'Papa!' Rumple groaned.

'He told you that?' Belle asked, shooting an offended look at her father-in-law.

'Yes,' an exasperated Rumple replied, 'because as well as looking like an adolescent, he apparently has the mind of one too.' He sighed. 'This was a bad idea.'

'I'm sorry,' Pan said contritely. 'I'll behave: promise.'

Rumple shot him a look. 'See that you do.'

'I'm sorry, Belle,' Pan said.

'Alright,' Belle said, mollified, 'but I'm hitting you with a book the next time you say anything like that.'

'Noted,' Pan returned, 'and congratulations,' he added.

Rumple and Belle thanked him.

'So, now you know everything: can you help?' Rumplestiltskin asked.

Pan smiled. 'I believe I have just the information you need.'

0

They were sitting in the back room, talking things over, when the bell jingled.

'Probably the Charmings looking for my help again,' Rumple grumbled.

Sure enough… 'Gold!' Emma called impatiently.

'I'll go get rid of them,' he said, rolling his eyes.

Belle looked at Pan as Rumple left them alone. 'Thank you for doing this,' she said quietly: 'it means a lot to him, and to me.'

'Well, I've learned the hard way how important family is. If I can help you now, maybe it'll make up in some way for all the wrong I did Rumple.'

'He did always love you, you know. I know he wishes you could have left things on a better note. Still, at least you can, now.'

'Yes,' he agreed.

'What part of the word _no_ do you not understand, Miss Swan?' Rumple's raised voice came back to them, irritated. 'I've got problems of my own: you lot can sort out your own mess for once.'

'I haven't told Belle your little secret yet, but I will,' Emma threatened darkly.

'Right, that's _it_!' Belle snapped, jumping to her feet and storming through to the front of the shop. Pan watched her go, and then quietly went to watch from behind the curtain what his fiery daughter-in-law would do.

'How _dare_ you threaten Rumple?' she screeched, striding around the counter to face Emma. 'How dare you blackmail him into coming down here with you? Some hero you are!'

Emma stared at her, shocked. 'You…you _know_?'

'Yes, I know,' Belle hissed: 'he told me himself, so you can take your blackmail and shove it.'

'Easy, love,' Hook chimed in.

Belle whirled on him. 'You keep out of this, Hook,' she growled.

'We were just trying to help Killian, Belle,' Snow said, attempting to soothe the angry woman.

'So help him,' Belle returned, 'and leave us alone. You really expect me to stand by and say nothing about how you treat my husband? You were all perfectly content to leave him to rot while you went on a fool's errand in search of Merlin. You completely ignored the fact that Rumple and Emma were _both_ seduced by the Darkness: you excused Emma because she's your family. Well, Rumple's _my_ family, so you'll forgive me if I'm not sympathetic to your threats against him. You'll also forgive me it I'm not accommodating your every need any more. Rumple and I have our own concerns to deal with now.'

'I can't believe you're just gonna let this go, after everything he did,' Emma said, flabbergasted. 'He's the reason Killian is down here!'

Belle turned to her very slowly, shaking in anger.

'Hook's down here because he got cut by Excalibur: what Rumple did to the sword wouldn't have killed anyone. You'd be dead too if it weren't for him.'

'What is that supposed to mean?' Emma demanded.

'Maybe you should try and figure that one out for yourself,' Belle suggested, 'instead of looking to us for the answers all the time. And as for letting it go, why is it ok for your family to forgive all of your nefarious acts, but I'm the worst in the world if I forgive Rumple? It's one rule for you and one for everyone else. You're not the hero you pretend to be: none of you are. You're all hypocrites.' She glared around at Emma, Regina, Hook, David and Snow. 'Get out, and don't come back.'

'Belle,' Rumple murmured, quietly proud of her. She sighed as he put his arms around her and relaxed against him.

The Charmings weren't leaving, though: they were all too shocked by Belle's outburst. They were about to get another shock.

'I believe my daughter-in-law told you to leave.'

'You!' Emma cried, as Peter Pan came through from the back room: 'what are you doing here?'

Pan laughed. 'Have you forgotten you're in the Underworld, Emma? I'm here for the same reason everyone else is: unfinished business.'

'What unfinished business could a demon like you have?' Hook demanded.

'Oh, isn't this the pot calling the kettle black? Didn't you recently release a dozen or so previous Dark Ones on Storybrooke? Am I misinformed on that? And you, Emma: how did it feel to turn your lover into a Dark One? Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy giving in to the Darkness?'

'That's enough!' Regina snapped, as Emma looked very uncomfortable. 'You think we're just going to let you walk around town after you tried to kill Henry?'

'I'm no threat to Henry,' Pan said: 'Rumple wouldn't ask me here if I was. My reasons for being here aren't anything to do with you people, believe me.'

'Then why _are_ you here?' David asked. 'Why would you ask him here?' he asked Rumple.

'That's our business,' Rumple returned.

'Suffice it to say, I have a family to protect, same as you,' Pan said.

'Emma, is he telling the truth?' Regina asked.

'He's not lying,' Emma said reluctantly.

'Oh, yes, the famous super power,' Pan said. 'Well, how nice to know I pass your rigorous testing, Emma, not that you have any moral high ground from which to judge me, not any more, at least.' He smiled nastily. 'From Saviour to Dark One: my, my, my, how are the mighty fallen. So are you the Saviour again, or…?'

'Gold, why are you working with him?' Regina demanded, impatiently, tired of Pan's goading: 'what's going on?'

'I don't believe I owe you any explanation, Regina. It's not like you care anyway.'

'I know you and your plans, Gold: they never end well for anyone but you. I can't believe you stooped so low as to talk Belle into going along with whatever evil scheme you've concocted this time.'

'I _beg_ your pardon?' Belle hissed, stepping away from Rumple towards the queen. 'You have the gall to act as if you're concerned for my welfare now, when, not two months ago, you ripped my heart out of my chest and used it to force me to hurt the man I love.'

Snow gasped. 'Regina!'

'I did it to save Robin,' Regina snapped.

'I would have helped you!' Belle shouted, 'but that wasn't good enough for you: you just had to force me to do what you wanted.' She laughed bitterly. 'Rumple really was right: light and dark really is all about your point of view. Who are you to judge us? You have absolutely no idea what's at stake here for us.'

'Belle, if you're in some kind of trouble, we can help,' David said.

She rounded on him. ' _Now_ you wanna help me?' she demanded. 'When I needed you to help me rescue Rumple from Emma, you were happy to take the risk of something happening to him because helping him didn't fit with your plan. Ugh, just get out,' she said, disgusted.

'We're going to take down Hades,' Hook said, grabbing her by the elbow as she turned away: 'I wouldn't get in our way,' he warned.

'Take your hand off my wife, pirate,' Rumple growled, a ball of fire appearing in his hand.

Belle pushed Hook's hand off her and was walking back to Rumple. He dowsed the flame in his hand and reached for her.

'Get down, Belle!' Pan shouted, and he just managed to pull her down into a crouch when a blast of magic sailed over her head, aimed at Rumple from Emma's outstretched hand. Luckily, he was quick enough to avoid it and it shattered one of the cabinets on the wall behind him.

The atmosphere between the two groups suddenly dropped several degrees.

'Belle!' Rumple cried, crouching down to her, checking her over: 'are you alright?'

She took a breath. 'I think so.'

'You're sure none of that hit you?' he asked, reaching out to touch her stomach.

She nodded. 'I'm sure.' She looked at her father-in-law. 'You saved me.'

'Yes. Thank you, Papa: I…'

'It's alright,' Pan soothed. 'I couldn't let anything happen to the woman carrying my grandchild, now, could I?'

' _Grandchild_?' Regina cried, shocked.

'What?' Emma asked weakly.

'Belle…you're pregnant?' Snow asked.

'Are you sure you're alright, sweetheart?' Rumple asked, ignoring the shocked voices of the Charmings.

'I'm fine: we're fine. Are _you_ ok?' She was checking him over for injury.

'I'm alright,' he said, helping her up as Pan got to his feet himself. He hugged her and then stepped in front of her to face Emma, who was clenching her hands into fists at her sides, anger rolling off her in waves. He didn't give a damn that she was protective of her precious pirate, she would not throw her magic around because she felt threatened. Hook was the one who had grabbed Belle anyway: Rumplestiltskin had only sought to protect her, and he banished the magic when he saw Belle was safe, before Emma threw her magic.

'You ever throw magic in my wife's direction again and I _will_ kill you, Miss Swan, Henry's mother or not,' he growled.

'It was an accident,' Snow claimed, coming to her daughter's defence.

He sneered. 'No, it wasn't.' He looked Emma over. 'Darkness comes in all forms, Miss Swan: it doesn't have to be attached to a dagger. I don't care what demons you're dealing with, don't you ever do that again.' Hook was a bad influence on her. Wherever he was, Bae must be shaking his head in sadness for her.

'I was aiming for you,' she spat: 'you're the only demon I'm dealing with!'

'Emma!' Snow cried.

'Oh, yes, we're back to it being my fault the pirate is stuck down here,' Rumple returned. 'Perhaps you ought to examine your own actions in all of this. Too uncomfortable for you?' he asked, seeing the way her eyes flicked away. 'You make your own choices, dearie: in the end, it's all down to you. You wanna insist it's my fault? Fine: keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night, but the thing about demons is that sometimes they're closer to your heart than you think.' His eyes flicked to Hook as he stepped back to rejoin Belle. The pirate only frowned. Of _course_ he wouldn't see that he'd changed Emma, and not in a good way: in a very, very bad way.

'Well, good luck with Hades,' Rumplestiltskin continued: 'good luck coming up with a plan that actually _works_ for once. It'll be a cold day in…well, here, when that happens.' He smiled.

'Gold, we should be working together,' David appealed to him. 'You wanna protect your baby from Hades, we get that: we'd be stronger together.'

'Oh, but you see, we don't trust you,' Rumple said, and Belle nodded.

'You don't trust _us_?' Snow asked, shocked.

'Do you really not get it?' Rumple demanded. 'Your daughter, the _Saviour_ , just threw her magic in the direction of my pregnant wife,' he growled, 'a woman who has never done anything to hurt any one of you. Well, that's the last straw, you see. We're not gonna work with hypocrites, or with anyone who can't control their darker impulses.' He glared at Emma. 'Belle and I will take down Hades and save our baby, and, yes, we'll even save all of you because my wife will insist on it, even though I don't think you deserve it. She's a much better person than I am, you see.' He smiled fondly at Belle. 'And after this is all over, once we're home safe, you stay out of our way and we'll stay out of yours, and that's how it'll be from now on.'

'You're serious about this?' Regina asked: 'you trust Pan over us?'

'Quite serious,' Rumple returned, 'and, yes, I trust him. Five minutes ago, I was still wary, but then he stepped in to protect Belle from Emma and that told me more than anything else that he's changed for the better. I'd rather work with someone changing for the better than someone changing for the worse.' And he shot another dark look at Emma.

'We've said all we're going to say,' Belle said, determined: 'we'd like you to leave now.'

'Fine,' Regina said.

Emma was going to protest, but Regina raised her hand to stop her.

'There's no point, Emma: they've made up their minds,' she told her.

Emma did not look happy. Probably trying to come up with something else she could blackmail him with, Rumplestiltskin thought uncharitably. Falling in love with the pirate had been the worst thing that had ever happened to that woman.

Belle followed them to the door and, once Snow had left, Belle shut it quickly behind her and locked it, ignoring the other woman's parting words.

She came back to Rumplestiltskin and squared her shoulders.

'Right, let's go save our baby,' she said with quiet determination.

 **The end. Thank you for reading :)**


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